How to Avoid Plagiarism
In research writing, sources are cited for two reasons: to alert readers to the sources of your information and to give credit to the writers from whom you have borrowed words and ideas. To borrow another writer's words or ideas without proper acknowledgment is a form of dishonesty known as plagiarism.
To avoid plagiarism, you must cite all quotations, summaries, paraphrases, and any facts that are not common knowledge. In addition, you must be careful to put paraphrases and summaries into your own words.
The benefits of using and documenting sources are many, including added credibility to your paper and further proof of the effort put in.
Quotations must be copied accurately, word-for-word, and they must be placed in quotation marks unless they have been formally set off from the rest of the text.
How to Cite Your Sources & Information Using MLA Source Formatting:
Books :: Essays :: Plays :: Encyclopedia :: Newspaper :: Magazine :: Journal :: Review
Film :: Video/DVD :: Television :: Letter :: Internet :: Email
Book, One Author:
Generic Example: Author's Last name, Author's First name. Title of Book. City of Publication: Publishing House's Name, Year Published.
Specific Example: Buss, A. H. Self-consciousness and Social Anxiety. San Francisco: W. H. Freeman, 1991.
Edited Book, One Author:
Generic Example: Author's Last name, Author's First name., ed. Title of Book. City of Publication: Publishing House's Name, Year Published.
Specific Example: Chickering, A. W., ed. The Modern American College: Responding to the New Realities of Diverse Students and a Changing Society. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 1981.
Article in an Edited Book, Two Authors:
Generic Example: Author #1's Last name, Author #1's First name and Author #2's First and Last Name. "Title of Article." Title of Book. Ed. Editor's First and Last Name. City of Publication: Publishing House's Name, Year Published. Page #'s.
Specific Example: Good, T. L., and J. E. Brophy. "School effects." Handbook of Research on Teaching. Ed. M. C. Wittrock. New York: Macmillan, 1986. 570-602.
Book, Two or Three Authors:
Generic Example: Author #1's Last name, Author #1's First name, Author #2's First and Last Name, and Author #3's First and Last Name. Title of Book. City of Publication: Publishing House's Name, Year Published.
Specific Example: Askin, Jayne, Terry Jenkins, and Bob Oskam. Self-consciousness and Social Anxiety. San Francisco: W. H. Freeman, 1991.
Book, More Than Three Authors:
Generic Example: Author #1's Last name, Author #1's First name, at al. Title of Book. City of Publication: Publishing House's Name, Year Published.
Specific Example: Askin, Jayne, at al. Self-consciousness and Social Anxiety. San Francisco: W. H. Freeman, 1991.
Two or More Books by the Same Author:
Generic Example: Author's Last name, Author's First name. Title of Book #1. City of Publication: Publishing House's Name, Year Published.
---Title of Book #2. City of Publication: Publishing House's Name, Year
Published.
---Title of Book #3. City of Publication: Publishing House's Name, Year
Published.
Specific Example: Carson, Rachel. Always, Rachel: The Lettes of Rachel Carson and Dorothy Freeman, 1952-1964. Boston: Beacon Press, 1994.
---The Sea Around Us. New York: New American Library, 1961.
---Silent Spring. New York: Ballantine Books, 1982.
Book, Two or More Volumes:
Generic Example: Author's Last name, Author's First name. Title of Book. Edition #. Volume #. City of Publication: Publishing House's Name, Year Published.
Specific Example: Harrier, Richard C., ed. The Anchor Anthology of Jacobean Drama. 1st ed. 2 vols. New York: Doubleday and Co., Inc., 1963.
Note: if using only one of the volumes, state the number of the volume.
Generic Example: Author's Last name, Author's First name. Title of Book. Edition #. # of Volumes. City of Publication: Publishing House's Name, Year Published.
Specific Example: Harrier, Richard C., ed. The Anchor Anthology of Jacobean Drama. 1st ed. Vol. 2. New York: Doubleday and Co., Inc., 1963.
Work in a Collection of Essays by Different Authors:
Generic Example: Author's Last name, Author's First name. "Title of Essay." Title of Book. Editor's First and Last Name. City of Publication: Publishing House's Name, Year Published. Page #'s.
Specific Example: Stern, James. "James Joyce: A First Impression." A James Joyce Micellany. Ed. Marvin Madalener. Carbondale, Illinois: Southern Illinois University Press, 1959. 93-102.
Specific Example: Sonstroem, David. "Wuthering Heights and the Limits of Vision." PMLA 86:1 (1971). Rpt. in Modern Critical Interpretations: Emily Bronte's Wuthering Heights. Ed. Harold Bloom. New York: Chelsea House Publishers, 1987. 27-45.
Full-length Play or Long Poem:
Generic Example: Author's Last name, Author's First name. Title of Play or Poem.
Specific Example: Shakespeare, William. Macbeth.
Material From One Source Quoted in Another:
Generic Example: Author's Last name, Author's First name. Title of Book. Quoted by Author's Last name, Author's First name in Title of Book. City of Publication: Publishing House's Name, Year Published.
Specific Example: Watt, Ian. The Rise of the Novel. Quoted by Wayne C. Booth in The Rhetoric. Chicago: University Press, 1961.
Encyclopedia Article (no author):
Generic Example: "Title of Article." Title of Encyclopedia. Edition #. Year Published.
Specific Example: "Indian Philosophy." The New Encyclopedia Britannica: Macropaedia. 15th ed. 1987.
Encyclopedia Article (with author):
Generic Example: Author's Last name, Author's First name. "Title of Article." Title of Encyclopedia. Edition #. Year Published.
Specific Example: Mohanty, Jitendra M. "Indian Philosophy." The New Encyclopedia Britannica: Macropaedia. 15th ed. 1987.
Newspaper Article, Discontinuous pages:
Generic Example: Author's Last name, Author's First name. "Title of Article." Title of Encyclopedia. Day, Month, and Year Published, Edition Type/Name. : Newspaper Page #.
Specific Example: Schmidt, W. "Charles and Diana are Separating 'Amicably'." New York Times, 10 Dec. 1993, late ed.: A1+.
Magazine Article:
Generic Example: Author's Last name, Author's First name. "Title of Article." Title of Magazine, Edition # (Year Published): Page #'s.
Specific Example: Lacayo, R. "Global Warming: A New Warning." Time, 137.17 (1991): 32-33.
Journal Article:
Generic Example: Author's Last name, Author's First name. "Title of Article." Title of Journal, Journal # (Year Published): Page #'s.
Specific Example: Stacks, D. W. "The Communication Investigator: Teaching Research Methods to Undergraduates." Communication Quarterly, 39 (1991):351-357.
Review:
Generic Example: Author's Last name, Author's First name. "Title of Review." Review of Work's Name, dir. Director's Name. Title of Work Published In, Day, Month, and Year Published.
Specific Example: Kauffmann, Stanley. "A New Spielberg." Rev. of Schindler's List, dir. Steven Spielberg. New Republic 13 Dec. 1993.
Film:
Generic Example: Title of Film. Dir. Director's First and Last Name. Prod. Producer's First and Last Name. Producing Company, Year Produced.
Specific Example: Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? Dir. M. Nichols. Prod. E. Lehman. Warner Brothers, 1966.
Video/DVD:
Generic Example: Title of Film. Dir. Director's First and Last Name. Perf. Main Performer's First and Last Name. Video or DVD. Producing Company, Year Produced.
Specific Example: Rashomon. Dir. Akira Kurosawa. Perf. Toshiro Mifune. 1950. Videocassette. Embassy, 1986.
Telecast:
Generic Example: "Title of Telecast." Narr. Narrator's First and Last Name. Name of TV Show . Television Channel, Broadcasting Company, Broadcasting City. Day, Month, and Year Broadcast.
Specific Example: "Yes ... but Is It Art?" Narr. Morley Safer. Sixty Minutes. CBS. WCBS, New York. 19 Sept. 1993.
Memos, Letters, e-mail, or other unpublished communication.
Generic Example: Author's Last Name, Author's First Name. Memo, Letter, Email, or what type. Day, Month, and Year Written.
Specific Example: Lancashire, Ian. E-mail to the author. 1 Mar. 1994.
Internet or World Wide Website:
Basic form followed by examples: Use the elements that are relevant to your document.
Generic Example: Author/Editor(if a single work). Title of the Work. Publication information of the print version (if known), date. Title of the Website. Editor(if a complete website). Electronic version (if given). Date(or latest update, if given). Name of organization responsible for website. Access date <Network address (URL)>.
Specific Example: Portuguese Language Page. U of Chicago. 1 May 1999 <http://humanities.uchicago.edu/ romance/ port/>.
Specific Example: Victorian Women Writers Project. Ed. Perry Willett. Apr. 1997. Indiana U. 26 Apr. 1997 <http://
www.indiana.edu/~letrs/vwwp/>.
Specific Example: Lancashire, Ian. Home page. 1 May 1997 <http:// www.chass.utoronto.ca:8080/~ian/index.html>.
Specific Example: Nesbit, Edith. Ballads and Lyrics of Socialism. London, 1908. Victorian Women Writers Project. Ed. Perry Willett. Apr. 1997. Indiana U. 26 Apr. 1997 <http://www.indiana.edu/~letrs/vwwp/
nesbit/ballsoc.html>.
